New Delhi: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has hit out at the Indian government for inviting and hosting the controversial far-right minister from Israel, the country’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, at a time “when genocide is unfolding in Gaza”.

The Modi government has earned flak on its vacillation and half-hearted support for the Palestinian cause over the past two years from commentators and the opposition parties of the INDIA bloc.

But a chief minister hitting out at India's foreign priorities stands out as the strongest formal response so far. Vijayan, the only Left chief minister in the country, wrote on X:

“Strongly condemn the Union Government’s decision to host Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right extremist and a chief architect of Israel’s brutal occupation and expansionist agenda. At a time when a genocide is unfolding in Gaza, entering into agreements with representatives of the Netanyahu regime is nothing short of a betrayal of India’s historic solidarity with Palestine. It is deplorable to maintain military, security, and economic ties with Israel while the path to a just and lasting peace for Palestine remains unpursued.”

The visit of the far-right Smotrich to India took place against the backdrop of international criticism targeting him for his extremist views.

He has faced sanctions and condemnation from several Western governments and the European Union for his hardline statements, and in June the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway had imposed sanctions on him and Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for incitement of violence against Palestinians as well as human rights violations.

In July, Slovenia declared them both personae non gratae. The Netherlands also imposed entry bans, saying that their statements on Gaza supported ethnic cleansing.

Nevertheless, Smotrich was in India for a three-day visit during which he signed a Bilateral Investment Agreement with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

India has abstained from voting in favour of UN General Assembly resolutions calling for ceasefires in Gaza at least four times in three years. The last time was in June, after voting for a similar resolution just six months before that.

Its vacillation and weakening of solidarity for Palestine has been visible in other areas, especially in so far as allowing protests for Palestinians to take place at all.

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